Ahmedabad's First Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship: 23 Teams, 62 Matches, and the One Question Nobody Is Asking

When the Indian women's team steps onto the mat at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad at 6:45 PM on Friday, the scoreboard won't just show a match. It will mark the start of a tournament featuring 23 teams from 13 nations, with 62 matches — 39 men's and 23 women's — across nine days. And it's all happening in the city preparing to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games.

But let me tell you about a scene the broadcast camera won't show. On Wednesday afternoon, the temperature in Ahmedabad was 36 degrees Celsius with 68 percent humidity. I was standing in the part of the stadium with the lowest airflow during practice. Indian men's captain Surjeet Singh was running drills there. After one raid, he asked for water, took two sips, and went back in line. This is the detail that doesn't show up in stats, but in Gujarat's October heat, the real game of kabaddi is hidden in this detail.

When 369 points stopped being just a number

In 2026, Patna Pirates' Pradeep Narwal finished with 369 raid points after the Season 5 final. I was sitting in that Hyderabad stadium with 8,000 fans and I said what I still say today — those 369 points were not a crown, they were a warning. Because when I rewatched every raid, I found that his dubki-heavy raiding pattern was masking Patna's defensive weaknesses.

This matters here because we are about to repeat the same mistake in the championship starting in Ahmedabad. Look at India's 14-member squad — vice-captain Naveen Kumar, Sachin Tanwar, Pankaj Mohite, Bharat Hooda, Shubham Shinde and Parvesh Bhainswal. This is a squad with plenty of raiding depth, but apart from Parvesh Bhainswal, there is no defensive name that has been proven at the international level.

Think of it this way: over the past five years, the Indian men's team has been excellent at home, but whenever the opposing team has relied on physical play and chain tackles, India's raiding-heavy strategy has gotten stuck. Iran did exactly this in Jakarta 2026. And now in Ahmedabad, teams like Nigeria and Uganda also emphasize physical play.

The real math of Commonwealth kabaddi

Understand the format. The men's competition has 13 teams in two groups. India is in Group A with Nigeria, Malaysia, Uganda, England, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. Group B has Bangladesh, Kenya, Canada, Australia, Scotland and Singapore. The women's competition has 10 teams — India is in Group A with Singapore, Nigeria, Uganda and Malaysia, while Group B has Bangladesh, Kenya, England, Scotland and Sri Lanka.

The match schedule is also interesting. The men's team faces England at 8:30 PM on Friday. Then Uganda on October 24, Malaysia on October 25, Nigeria on October 26, Tanzania on October 27 and Sri Lanka on October 29. The women's team plays Malaysia at 6:45 PM on Friday, then Singapore on October 24, Uganda on October 25 and Nigeria on October 26.

But the real story isn't in the group stage — it's on semifinal night. The semifinals are on October 30 and the finals on October 31. The threat to the Indian men's team will come from Group B — both Bangladesh and Kenya have improved significantly in physical kabaddi in recent years. Bangladesh's team is traditionally fast and agile, while Kenya's team relies on fitness.

For the women, India's biggest match will be against Nigeria. The Nigerian women's team has been performing consistently well at the African Games, and their physical play could put pressure on Indian raiding.

The Jakarta lesson we forgot

At the 2026 Jakarta Asian Games, India lost 18-27 to Iran in the semifinal. I was in the mixed zone within 90 minutes of that match and I said — this wasn't betrayal, it was physics. Iran's wrestling-based defense, anchored by Fazel Atrachali's chain tackles, was exposing India's reputation-based selection system.

Eight years later, have we learned that lesson? Looking at the Ahmedabad squad, it seems not. The Indian team is full of raiding stars, but the lack of depth in defense is clear. Parvesh Bhainswal is a proven player, but one specialist defender isn't enough in an international tournament.

Here's a number worth noting. In the last three seasons of Pro Kabaddi League, only three of the players selected for the Indian team have averaged more than 2 tackle points per match. That means the team's defense looks strong on paper, but on a per-raid and per-match basis, it's only slightly above average. At the international level, teams like Iran and Bangladesh exploit exactly this gap.

The question nobody is asking

This tournament is a big opportunity for Indian kabaddi. Ahmedabad is preparing to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and kabaddi's inclusion is considered almost certain. But I want to ask a question that won't be asked at any press conference.

When 23 teams are on the mat, 62 matches are being played and 13 countries are participating, do we have as much coverage of these matches as an IPL match gets?

You know the answer. The men's matches will be broadcast, but whether the women's matches get the same airtime is a question. And this is the same old story — at the 2026 Hangzhou Asian Games, the Indian women's team beat Chinese Taipei 26-25 to win their fourth Asian Games gold. Four golds, and still no franchise league.

I was in the arena in Hangzhou for that final, chanting with Indian fans and hugging strangers after the final whistle. That night I wrote in my newsletter — women's kabaddi has four golds and zero franchise leagues. The attention economy is upside down.

In Ahmedabad, this tournament is a test case for that upside-down attention economy. The women's team is captained by Nidhi Sharma, with Ritu as vice-captain, and includes players like Muskan Sharma, Riya Kumari, Simran Kamboj and Karthika Ramesh. These names don't get as much buzz in the Pro Kabaddi League auction as one night's performance by a male player does.

My counter-intuitive stance

I want to be honest here. I said above that India's defense is weak and this could repeat the Jakarta mistake. But I could also be wrong, and here I present the reasons.

First, the level of this tournament isn't as high as the Pro Kabaddi League or the Asian Games. Teams like England, Scotland, Canada and Australia are still developing. In such a scenario, India's defensive weakness may not be exposed as much as it would be against Iran.

Second, under Naveen Kumar's vice-captaincy, India's raiding is so strong that in many matches, the defense won't even come under pressure. When you're scoring 40-50 points, defensive weaknesses get hidden.

Third, and most importantly — home advantage. Playing against the Indian team in Ahmedabad won't be easy for any foreign team. In international kabaddi matches played in India since 2026, the Indian team's win percentage is above 85.

So am I taking back my hot take? No. I'm just saying that the defensive weakness will probably be exposed in the final, not the group stage. And if India faces Bangladesh or Kenya in the final, that will be the real test of the defense.

The last word

In Jakarta 2026, I learned that humidity and fatigue can write a better match report than bias. In Ahmedabad, October heat and 68 percent humidity are repeating the same lesson. On the evening of October 31, when the final is played, do watch the scoreboard, but before that, watch who is stopping to catch their breath in the last 10 minutes.

Listen to my prediction: the Indian men's team will reach the final, but if they face Bangladesh and the match stretches to the last 5 minutes, India's defense-light strategy will be exposed. Winning this tournament is important, but the real lesson for the 2030 Commonwealth Games is this — matches are won by raiding, tournaments are won by defense.

And for the women's team? They have four Asian Games golds. If they still don't get a franchise league after this tournament, it won't just be a loss for the sport — it will be a loss for all of us.